{"id":188840,"date":"2026-03-12T15:53:10","date_gmt":"2026-03-12T15:53:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/188840\/"},"modified":"2026-03-12T15:53:10","modified_gmt":"2026-03-12T15:53:10","slug":"aventura-arts-cultural-center-hosts-dance-now-program-ii","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/188840\/","title":{"rendered":"Aventura Arts & Cultural Center hosts Dance NOW! Program II"},"content":{"rendered":"

The second program of Dance NOW! Miami\u2019s 2025\u20132026 season brings together two works\u2014one a world premiere and another first performed in 2017\u2014connected by a common thread of politically charged history.<\/p>\n

The world premiere, \u201c1933,\u201d choreographed by Hannah Baumgarten, and the other, \u201cBridges NOT Walls,\u201d created by Baumgarten and Diego Salterini, co-founders and co-directors of Dance NOW! Miami, are part of the company\u2019s Program II at the Aventura Arts and Cultural Center on Sunday, March 15.<\/p>\n

\"Dance Dance NOW! Miami dancers in \u201cBridges NOT Walls,\u201d by Hannah Baumgarten and Diego Salterini. (Photo by Simon Soong, courtesy of Dance NOW! Miami) <\/p>\n

\u201c1933,\u201d a cabaret-inspired work for three dancers, addresses the rise of Nazi leader Adolf Hitler. It was first performed last December at the Sanctuary of the Arts in Coral Gables.<\/p>\n

Describing it as a dramatic creation, \u201c1933\u201d \u201cironically started as a playful romp\u2026 an upbeat and athletic dance piece,\u201d says Baumgarten. \u201cI found some fun Balkan music and started playing (around) in the studio with the dancers. But the news of comedians being censored by the government, removed from their jobs, pushed the fun right out of me,\u201d she says, referring to the controversies of late-night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel, who was temporarily suspended from ABC, and Stephen Colbert\u2019s show, which faces the end of its run on CBS in May.<\/p>\n

She recalls jesters\u2014also called court fools\u2014popular during the Medieval and Renaissance periods. \u201cA society that silences the jesters is on the brink of losing its freedom,\u201d says Baumgarten. \u201cThey, from the time of kings, were meant to release political tension, but also to speak out without being condemned. And so, the story unfolded: artists taking action, using their art to speak out, of the sounds of fascism, in rallies, on the streets. In the past and perhaps even today\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

Those sounds of reality in \u201c1933\u201d made it a companion piece to \u201cBridges NOT Walls,\u201d which has not been presented in full since 2019.<\/p>\n

\"Dance Dance NOW! Miami presents Program II at the Aventura Arts and Cultural Center on Sunday, March 15. (Photo by Simon Soong, courtesy of Dance NOW! Miami) <\/p>\n

Salterini says that when the pair began to conceive \u201cBridges NOT Walls\u201d in 2015, it was in response to the changing social climate around them.<\/p>\n

\u201cConversations about racism, immigration, LGBTQ+ rights, and women\u2019s rights were intensifying, and public discourse was becoming increasingly defined by division: the looming metaphor of the \u2018wall\u2019 as a reality of political debate.\u201d<\/p>\n

By the time it premiered in the company\u2019s 2016\u20132017 season, Salterini says, the divisions had become even deeper.<\/p>\n

\u201cEntrenched in ways we could hardly have imagined, \u2018Bridges NOT Walls\u2019 emerged as a reflection of that moment and as a call for empathy, dialogue, and connection.\u201d<\/p>\n

As the work gained momentum, the company began to collaborate with the Ballet of Mexico City and the Classical Ballet of Quintana Roo, \u201csharing the stage, adding sections, and performing with both companies in both Mexico and the United States,\u201d says Baumgarten.<\/p>\n

A few years later, the piece resurfaced when the migration crisis reached its peak in Italy. \u201cAt that time, we were collaborating with Opus Ballet and realized that the work had a specific meaning for that moment,\u201d she says. \u201cWe presented it in Florence to a full house, with the audience on their feet, and again in Rome in April 2019. The work was received with a sense of urgency and a hope for a future that could offer greater acceptance and compassion to those in need.\u201d<\/p>\n

Salterini adds that a decade later, the message is as urgent as ever.<\/p>\n

\"Dance Dance NOW! Miami dancers in \u201cBridges NOT Walls,\u201d by Hannah Baumgarten and Diego Salterini. (Photo by Simon Soong, courtesy of Dance NOW! Miami) <\/p>\n

\u201cA reminder that art can and should continue to be a bridge when the world insists on building walls.\u201d While the leaders of Dance NOW! Miami are not bound to promoting a specific political cause, they agree that what is happening around the world influences their work.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is not our explicit mission to promote a political or social agenda, but as artists\u2014and simply as human beings living in profoundly complex times\u2014it is impossible to separate our creative voices from the world we inhabit. We strive to create dances that transcend immediate headlines, works that can resonate across generations and cultures through universal themes,\u201d says Salterini.<\/p>\n

For Baumgarten, she equates art to a mirror.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt reflects, questions, and invites awareness. In that sense, our work is not political, but human, because its purpose is connection, compassion, and understanding\u2014timeless values that endure beyond the politics of any given moment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Also on Program II are two short pieces: the duo \u201cStrings of Goodbye\u201d (2009), by Salterini, which Baumgarten defines as \u201cthe powerful and poetic journey of a couple, dealing with the direction their relationship will take,\u201d and the solo \u201cOH!\u201d (2003), by Baumgarten, which she affirms explores \u201cthe choppy moments of falling in love, remembering that first kiss that sends shivers down your spine.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Luke Luke Stockton and Jenny Hegarty in \u201cStrings of Goodbye,\u201d by Diego Salterini. (Photo by Jenny Abreu, courtesy of Dance NOW! Miami) <\/p>\n

The program also includes \u201cForest Dreams,\u201d by choreographer Tandy Beal, which Salterini describes as \u201ca modern dance work that creates a vivid, almost sculptural landscape on stage, where the dancers move through space in wide runs and changing \u2018planes,\u2019 evoking the feeling of traversing a living, dreamlike forest environment.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cForest Dreams\u201d is part of the company\u2019s \u201cMoving Masterpiece\u201d series, meant to provide Florida audiences with opportunities to see masterpieces created by living choreographers such as Beal or by legendary great masters including Isadora Duncan, Jos\u00e9 Lim\u00f3n, Doris Humphrey, and Gerald Arpino.<\/p>\n

\"From From left, Justin Dinkins, Cristiane Silva, Jason Williams, and Megan Holsinger in \u201cForest Dreams.\u201d (Photo by Jenny Abreu, courtesy of Dance NOW! Miami) <\/p>\n

The program was conceived, according to Salterini, with the objective that \u201cpeople leave the theater not only moved by the dance, but also more curious, reflective, and open to dialogue.\u201d<\/p>\n

And while there may be emotionally challenging moments throughout, Baumgarten believes there will be many moments with a positive impact.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe promise that our audience will leave the theater uplifted, with their hearts full and brimming with optimism for the future.\u201d<\/p>\n

If you go:<\/p>\n

WHAT: Dance NOW! Program II: \u201cBridges NOT Walls\u201d and other works<\/p>\n

WHEN: 7 p.m., Sunday, March 15<\/p>\n

WHERE: Aventura Arts & Cultural Center, 3385 NE 188th St., Aventura<\/p>\n

COST: $25.96, $37.76, $49.56 (includes fees before taxes); $20, students with a valid ID at box office.<\/p>\n

INFORMATION: (305) 975-8489 and at dancenowmiami.org\/events\/bnw<\/p>\n

ArtburstMiami.com is a nonprofit media source for the arts featuring fresh and original stories by writers dedicated to theater, dance, visual arts, film, music and more. Don\u2019t miss a story at www.artburstmiami.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The second program of Dance NOW! Miami\u2019s 2025\u20132026 season brings together two works\u2014one a world premiere and another…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":188841,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[88433,88432,84037,88431,88434,123,125,124],"class_list":["post-188840","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-miami","tag-88433","tag-aventura-arts-cultural-center","tag-bridges-not-walls","tag-dance-now-miami","tag-hannah-baumgarten","tag-miami","tag-miami-headlines","tag-miami-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/188840","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=188840"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/188840\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/188841"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=188840"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=188840"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=188840"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}